Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

With that said, everyone was naturally happy. Xia Yu had some complaints about her grandfather, but she had already supported her fourth uncle for so long, and it wasn't worth falling out with the old man for the sake of one last thing. Otherwise, wouldn't all the family's efforts over the years have been in vain?

Xia Yu calculated the time, got up and scooped the fish out of the pot, then stir-fried some garlic bok choy. With both dishes served, and because there was a lot of fish broth in the pot, everyone soaked their flatbreads in the broth and ate very comfortably. After the meal, the old man, along with his sons, picked out more than thirty large watermelons from the backyard and returned to the old house.

After they left, Changyun sat silently at the table in the main room, reflecting on the conversation at the dinner table and feeling very guilty. He had understood what they had heard: in order to get his grandfather's approval for him to attend school, his family would have to give his fourth uncle sixty taels of silver for travel expenses next year, and if sixty taels wasn't enough, they would have to give more.

Seeing his brother's expression, Xia Yu knew he was probably still struggling with something. She went to the backyard and found Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi, who were watering the watermelons, and told them about Changyun's situation. The couple had been heartbroken to see Changyun hunched over eating a flatbread at the dinner table, and when their daughter told them that their son was lost in thought, they quickly put down their water ladles and went to the main room.

"Changyun, what are you doing standing here in a daze? Come help your parents water the watermelons!" Liu Shi saw her son's slumped shoulders at the door and asked softly with heartache.

Hearing his mother's voice, Changyun looked up at his father, mother, and younger sister at the door. Overwhelmed with sadness, tears streamed down his face as he spoke.

"Mother, I'm not going to school anymore. If I quit, will our family not have to give Uncle Si sixty taels of silver next year?"

Hearing her son's question, Liu's eyes welled up with tears. She stepped forward, pulled Changyun into her arms, and said gently...

“Silly child, this has nothing to do with whether you go to school or not. Even if you don’t go to school, our family will still have to pay for this next year. If your fourth uncle is going to the capital next year, he will definitely need money. The old house can’t afford it, but we have money in our hands. Can we just stand by and watch your fourth uncle need it without contributing?” After saying this, she calmed herself down, wiped the tears from Changyun’s face, and continued…

"Your father and mother are willing to give your fourth uncle money. Don't hold a grudge against him because of this. He can help you when he gets better. His recovery will benefit all of us. Besides, our family can earn more than a hundred taels of silver from selling watermelons this time, which is more than enough to cover these expenses. Don't worry about the money, understand?"

Xia Yu felt terrible seeing her brother's expression. Watching her mother explain the situation to him in detail, she couldn't help but chime in.

“Brother, even if Grandpa doesn’t agree today, Father and Mother will still send you to school. You can ask them if you don’t believe me. Father, don’t you agree?” Xia Yu said, looking intently at Zhang Youtie beside her.

"Yes, yes, we have enough money for your schooling and your fourth uncle's trip to the capital. Even if your grandfather disagrees, I will still insist on sending you to school. If your grandfather is angry, he can be angry with me. He can just beat me up!" Under the watchful eyes of his daughter, son, and daughter-in-law, Zhang Youtie was almost ready to raise his hand and swear an oath to prove his determination to send his child to school.

"Hehe...hehe" Changyun, who had just been shedding tears, couldn't help but chuckle when he heard his father say that his grandfather should beat him up.

Seeing their son smile, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi finally felt relieved. They didn't want their child to go to school burdened with some kind of inexplicable guilt. Earning money was an adult's responsibility; they shouldn't put that burden on the child.

"Stop crying and come help your parents water the watermelons in the backyard. Maybe they'll grow a little bigger tonight, and we can sell them for more money," Liu said, tapping Changyun on the forehead.

"Okay, Mom. I will definitely study hard." Changyun scratched his head a little embarrassedly and went with his parents to water the watermelons in the backyard. Of course, they added a little bit of water from the space well to the water.

After finishing their chores, everyone washed up and went to bed. Before sleeping, Xia Yu went into her spatial dimension and picked forty large watermelons, each with a section of vine attached. She had heard from her father that these were gifts that Steward Wang's wife was preparing to send to the prefectural city, and having the vines attached made them look fresher. After finishing, Xia Yu came out of the spatial dimension and went to sleep. Although drinking spatial well water for several days had greatly improved her physique and made her stronger than before, she still felt a little tired today.

Xia Yu slept soundly through the night, but was woken up by Liu Shi while she was still fast asleep. She rubbed her sleepy eyes to wake herself up, because today was the day she had arranged to deliver watermelons to Steward Wang's residence.

The family stacked the large baskets from yesterday onto the car. These baskets would be put away once they left the village. Everything else was in Xia Yu's spatial storage, and they would take them out when they were almost there.

As before, Xia Yu took out the bedding as soon as they left the village. After Liu Shi made the bed, she and Chang Yun lay down to sleep again for a while. When Liu Shi woke them up, Xia Yu found that she woke them up earlier than the previous two times.

Several people got off the vehicle and arranged the five baskets on the cart. Xia Yu put eight watermelons in each basket. Today's watermelons were bigger than yesterday's, and with gas, they would weigh more than a thousand pounds. Based on past experience, oxen can usually only pull about seven hundred pounds of weight. He wondered if the oxen could pull such a heavy load.

After the watermelons were loaded, Liu and her two children refused to ride in the cart. Zhang Youtie also got out and led the ox. A whip cracked through the air, and the ox mooed and bent down to move forward, but the cart didn't budge. Changyun and Xia Yu watched the ox struggling to move forward, their hearts aching, tears welling up in their eyes.

"Father, it's still early. How about I put most of the watermelons into my spatial storage, and when we get to Steward Wang's residence, I'll cover my hands with felt and put them back in? If we're worried about people getting suspicious, we can put some of the watermelons on the ground and say that we asked other oxcarts to help us transport them. Once we get there, they'll leave."

Looking at the oxcart that hadn't moved an inch, Zhang Youtie thought for a moment and could only reluctantly agree.

When Xia Yu saw that her father had agreed, she happily took all the watermelons from the basket, leaving only the felt cloth covering them.

The group got back onto the oxcart and this time they set off easily. As they approached the county town, Xia Yu put a few baskets in each one to prevent anyone from seeing that the baskets were empty.

They set off early this time, and when they arrived in the county town, the city gates weren't open yet. However, other oxcarts were already waiting in front of the gates, seemingly carrying vegetables grown in the fields. The gates finally opened after a quarter of an hour. After successfully entering the town, Zhang Youtie drove the oxcart directly to the place Steward Wang had instructed him to go. This should be a side gate of the mansion. Xia Yu noticed that there was no plaque hanging above it, only a small sign with the words "Wang Mansion" nailed to the side of the door frame.

After entering the city, Xia Yu put watermelons into the basket one by one to see how much weight her ox could pull. Before entering the city, Xia Yu put twenty watermelons into the basket, and after entering the city, she put in twelve more. Then she felt that her ox was starting to have difficulty, so she stopped putting watermelons into the basket.

Upon reaching the side gate of the Prince's mansion, the sky was still overcast, obscuring any figures. Looking around and finding no one else, Xia Yu quickly took out eight watermelons from her spatial storage and placed them on the ground near the gate. She also moved ten watermelons from the basket and put them on the ground as well. Finally, Xia Yu set aside two watermelons she had picked from the backyard the day before—a thank-you gift for Steward Wang. Then the family squatted against the wall, waiting for dawn. To be honest, if they didn't have an oxcart with them, they would definitely look like members of the Beggars' Sect!